


Heartstrings

by reggiebaby



Category: The Owl House
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:15:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27244834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reggiebaby/pseuds/reggiebaby
Summary: In this AU, Luz doesn't accidentally wind up in the Boiling Isles - instead, Amity summons a door to the human world which Luz ends up falling through. She doesn't have a way to get back home until Amity can resummon the door, which she struggles to do. In the meanwhile, Luz is desperate to get to know the real Boiling Isles, but she's confined to a closed-off room in Blight Manor to stay as far away from Amity's parents as possible. Eventually, the curiosity overtakes her and Luz breaks out of the room to explore in secret, which turns out to be a grave mistake.
Relationships: Alador Blight/Odalia Blight, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Comments: 6
Kudos: 89





	1. Summoned

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my very much work in progress story. I'm hoping some people will read and enjoy it :)

Midnight air slaps against my coat as I haul myself towards the peak. The practice wand is tucked safely against my chest in a side pocket. It jostles as I walk forward, desperate to reach the Knee and test out a new spell. Hot breath curls in front of my face and the distant rumble of monsters spread out on the snowy slopes. 

I grumble as the cold seeps into my boots. My fingers fall numb, and every inch of my body shivers with cold. But the Knee is the only place far enough away to try the spell. The script promises that the spell is so difficult, only the most powerful of all witches can perform it. It has been in my family for generations, but none have succeeded. 

“C’mon, Amity, you can do this,” I reassure myself. I crouch against a bolder and readjust my earmuffs. Shakily, I pull out the wand, focus on the page in front of me, and shut my eyes tight. I mouth the words. I feel my chest glow, the tips of the wand reflecting that with a bright spark and shimmer. 

Slowly, I trace a circle in the night sky. The colour lights up in gold and a fiery ball of light erupts the moment the circle becomes full. It pushes me into the boulder and I shield my eyes. Suddenly, the brightness fades and I turn to see the outline of a door. 

“And this was supposed to be difficult?” I scoff, pride filling my head. I reach for the door handle and grasp it with my mittened hand. But before I can turn the handle, it bursts open, and some figure topples out. I let out a piercing shriek that sends the birds scattering from treetops. 

The door swings shut in the wind and disappears. “No!” I cry, swinging my hands in front of the place the door had appeared. I groan. “Thanks a lot, you just ruined my spell.” I turn to the person on all fours, hands buried beneath the snow. 

“Spell?” the voice answers. 

“Yes, my spell. You ruined it,” I shoot back, eyebrows furrowing. The person stands on their feet and breathes heavily, almost like they were running from something. 

“Where...where am I? Who are you?” 

“Who am  _ I? _ Who are you?” I snip back. 

“Luz. My name’s Luz Noceda.”

“Well, Luz,” I begin, “as I was saying, I was in the middle of a spell, so if you wouldn’t mind-”

“It’s snowing,” the girl interrupts. I raise an eyebrow.

“Yeah, it always snows on the Knee.” I tap the side of the girl’s head with my wand. “You concussed or something?”

“No, I’m not concussed,” the girl whispers back. “Please, just tell me where I am.”

“As I said, we’re on the Knee.” But the girl isn’t listening anymore. She’s walked to the edge of the slope, glancing out towards the Titan that makes up the Boiling Isles. “Hello? Luz? Are you okay?”

“What on Earth…” Luz falters for a moment and nearly trips down the mountainside. I grab the hoodie of her shirt before she does. 

“Earth?” I question, narrowing my eyes. Then I see it. The rounded ears, the dazed look, the lack of knowledge about the Boiling Isles. “You’re a human...aren’t you?”

She turns around, dark hair bobbing around her face. “Of course, I’m a human! What else would I be?”

I sigh, both perplexed and annoyed.  _ How did my spell conjure a door to the human world? _ “No matter, I’ll just redo the spell. Don’t worry about a thing, human, you’ll forget this place even existed.”

I return to my spot and cast a light spell to look over the words one more time. I perform the same spell, eyes closed, hand gripping my wand tightly. The human stands off to the side, bewildered and in awe. The strong light emanates from the wand, but something’s off. The power isn’t coursing through me anymore. I open my eyes and see the weak rim of light that only formed a half-circle. 

I glance sideways at the human, at Luz, who’s staring at me with wide brown eyes illuminated by my floating light spell. “You just did magic!” she squeals, jumping up and down in the snow. 

“Shh, I’m trying to concentrate,” I scold, and return to my scroll for a second attempt.  _ It’s probably because she’s distracting me _ . I try again, words at the ready, hand out and magic pumping. This time I complete the circle, but everything falls apart. 

“What’s going on?” asks Luz, stepping closer to me. “Are you okay?”

“Shh,” I mumble, pushing away the doubts that crowd my head. “I just need you to be quiet. I can do this.” I try once more, this time focusing every inch of energy into the wand and tracing a perfect, balanced circle in the air. I open my eyes, the glow of my magic still solid in the night sky. But nothing happens, the magic doesn’t fade away and summon a door. Instead, the glowing light slowly ebbs away and I’m left in the mild dimness, cold and confused. 

“What’s your name?” The human - Luz - asks. 

“None of your business,” I whisper harshly. 

“Sorry?” Luz questions, inching closer. “I didn’t hear that it’s windy up here.”

With a sigh, I respond, “I’m Amity Blight. Welcome to the Boiling Isles, human.”

“The Boiling what?” she replies incredulously. “Where on Earth is that?”

“You’re not on Earth.”

“Well then...where am I?” She takes another sweeping look around the dark silhouettes of trees and the glowing lights from the town below. A three-headed bird squawks and passes over Luz’s head. “Is this another planet? A parallel universe? A different dimension!”

I raise my eyebrows and tuck my wand away. “I suppose that’s what you’d call it. Now come along, human. I have to hide you before my parents find out about this.” A sinking feeling settles in my chest at the idea of my parents scolding faces. I dust off the snow from the front of my jacket to distract myself and then begin to trek down the Knee. 

“Hey, wait!” Luz cries, chasing after me, the sound of snow crunching beneath her shoes. “It’s dark out h-h-here,” she chatters, her face flushed from the cold. I roll my eyes and begin to take off my coat to give to the human. 

“Here,” I say, the cold air now exposed to my skin. Luz looks up at me with a toothy grin. 

“Thanks,” she whispers and puts the coat on. “Thank you, Amity.”

“I suppose it’s the least I can do for summoning you here,” I reply, eyes facing the snow. “I’m going to find a way to do that spell and send you home.”

“I’m sure you will,” she says sympathetically. “Not that many people will be searching for me, anyway.”

We start to reach the bottom of the Knee where the air is slightly warmer, but still chilly enough to want a coat. I glance over at Luz’s half-hearted smile and shake my head.

“Surely someone back home misses you,” I find myself saying. “You seem...nice.”

She giggles stupidly, shoulders shaking. “Thanks, I guess. But that’s not what most people would describe me as.” Her tone isn’t sad, it’s pointedly matter-of-fact. “According to everyone else back home, I’m weird. I’m different. Haven’t really had any real friends in a long time.” Luz gazes distantly ahead of us at a pair of kids running through the street. 

I don’t know how to fill the silence for a while, but Luz cuts in. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.” She shakes her head disappointingly. 

“It’s okay.” For some inexplicable reason, I feel the need to be honest too. “I haven’t had any real friends in a long time either. The ones I have now...they’re not people I want to be around. It’s a status thing.”

“That seems hard.”

“It is,” I reply, tears pricking my eyes. I look up at Luz who’s smiling softly and empathetically at me. “Just don’t mention this to anyone, alright?”

“Of course,” she beams. “My lips are sealed.” She mimics zipping her lips shut and rears back to throw an imaginary key far into the distance. Her silly laugh is contagious, and soon the two of us are giggling all the way back to the manor. 

“Now that we’re close, we need to be as quiet as possible. There’s a spare room in the basement that’s locked off for all house members except for me and my siblings. I can hide you in there and convince my brother and sister to stay out. I don’t know how long you might be here for, Luz. I’m sorry.” Luz shrugs in response, seemingly nonchalant about the whole situation. She seems to have grasped the concept of magic quite quickly. I thought humans would lose their minds over a place like the Boiling Isles, or at least, that’s what I’m told would happen.

“So...Luz,” I continue as we sneak around the back of the house. “Do you have any questions about the Boiling Isles? Or magic? Or anything...really.”

“Nope,” she replies, popping the ‘p’. “I always knew this place was real.”

“You did?” I ask a little too loudly. I slap my hands over my mouth and drop my voice to an almost inaudible whisper. “How?”

“Well, I mean, maybe not  _ this _ place exactly. More like some awesome magical realm of witches and warlocks. I’ve always believed in magic.”

“Oh, I see.” 

“Actually, I guess now that you mention it, I wanted to ask if humans could maybe possibly do magic.” I turn to Luz, who gazes back at me hopefully.

“Not that I’m aware of,” I say apologetically. 

“Oh. Well, I guess I’ll just have to make do with being a plain old boring human,” she responds optimistically. 

“I suppose. Oh! Here’s the door to the room. Let me just-” I attempt to push the door in with my shoulder and it finally gives through. Luz takes off the coat slowly and hands it back to me with a grin. I drape it over the back of a chair and take off my earmuffs and gloves and then shut the door behind us as quietly as possible. 

“There’s a bed, table, vanity, bathroom. Everything you need to stay completely out of my parent's line of sight.” I spin in a circle and take in the weathered boards, creaking floor, and dusty sheets. Memories of playing enchanted board games with Ed and Em in this room fill my heart with nostalgia.

“Whoa, this is so fancy!” Luz says, admiring the vase with a wilted bouquet of flowers. She picks out the most alive of them and reaches over to place it behind my ear. Her cold fingers brush past my warmed ears and I shiver slightly. 

“Oh...I- thank you,” I stutter, heat rushing to my face. 

“I guess I should get some sleep.” She untucks the sheets of the bed and kicks off her shoes before clambering in. “Comfy!” she giggles and pats the pillow behind her head. 

“Goodnight, Luz.”

“Goodnight, Amity,” she whispers in reply, eyes already begin to flutter shut. I walk up the stairs with my things and lock the door once I step onto the landing of the first floor. The manor is eerie and quiet, and not even the help is around to see me. 

I clamber up to my room quietly, wash my face, change back into my pyjamas, and then settle into bed.  _ I just need to find a way to summon that door and everything will go back to normal,  _ I try to convince myself. I close my eyes, letting the tiredness of the midnight endeavour wash over me.  _ Goodnight, Luz _ , I think once more to myself before drifting off to sleep. 


	2. Hiding a Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the morning after Amity summoned Luz from the human realm - but her siblings, Ed and Em, are suspicious of something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! It's been...five months? Sorry about that, it's been a work in progress, but here it is, chapter 2! I hope you guys like it, although it's kinda filler. I just wanted to write about the breakfast fluff, I'm sorry, they're too cute! And Ed and Em as well, chaotic twins, love them. Hopefully, there's be more of them in season 2!

“Mittens...Mittens,” someone whispers incessantly. “Wake up.”

“Five more minutes,” I groan. There’s a quiet shuffle followed by the sound of Em’s high-pitched giggling. I open an eye and see Ed poised with a pillow in his grasp, and immediately after, it makes contact with my face. 

“Guess you’re awake now,” Ed chuckles, throwing the pillow onto my bed. It bounces off and lands on the floor with a soft _thump_. I groan, annoyed and exhausted, and I rest my forehead in the palms of my hands. I squeeze my eyes shut to try and remember the last pieces of my dream, but I’m practically grasping at sand. Everything slips through my fingers and slithers away in the wind.

I look up and turn to face Em with a scowl. “What do you two want?” I question stiffly. The morning light streams brightly through the window above my bed, and I gaze distantly at the particles that float through the air. I attempt to sit straight, my back against the frame of my bed. 

“Can’t we just say good morning to our favourite little sis?” Em replies, her eyes squinting at me with mock kindness. She sits on the end of my bed and pulls her knees up to her chest. 

“You’ve never done that before,” I point out. “Well, now that you’ve said it, get out.”

“Aw, that’s no way to treat your favourite pair of twins,” Ed whines, pouting his lips. He reaches over to ruffle my hair, but I hold back his hand. He frowns mockingly but laughs it off. 

“Seriously, what do you guys want?” 

“Well, I suppose what we want is a few answers, Mittens,” Em says, twirling a strand of loose hair around her finger. I roll my eyes and hop out of bed, grabbing a hair tie off my bookshelf and scraping my hair into a ponytail. A breeze brushes past the nape of my neck, exposed because of my undercut. I run my fingers along the cropped hair, softer now than it was when I cut it. 

It seems like such a long time ago...at the time I had just grabbed the razor and watched my reflection shake as I held it above my head, for hours it seemed. I knew I couldn’t do something that outrageous. My parents would lose their minds, so I opted for a somewhat less rebellious act. 

I blink myself away from that memory and return to the situation at hand. “What? What answers?” I reply. I absentmindedly comb through my hair, and that’s when I feel the flower slip between my fingers. I smile thinking about that moment, and I carefully and discreetly remove the petals from my hair and place them into the top drawer of my nightstand. 

“We found this on the staircase this morning,” Ed says. I turn around, and my heart falls to my feet. It feels like all my internal organs are floating weightless around my body; the sensation makes me want to throw up in fear and shock. Ed’s holding up my wand and scroll, both of which must have fallen out of my coat on my way upstairs last night. I glance at it, hung up on the back of my door, and I wince in annoyance.

“Oh, that? It’s...it’s nothing,” I reply, trying to keep my voice calm. I reach to grab them from Ed, but he moves his hands away at the last second and stands on the tips of his toes. I scowl and cross my arms over my chest, taking deep breaths to stay calm as my heart pounds in my chest. 

“Give it back, Ed.”

“So you were trying the spell then,” Em concludes, a severe look on her face. “Did it work?”

An image of Luz pops into my head. Her grin, her laugh, and the sadness she emanated when she talked about her life back home. I feel a pang in my chest, and my mind transports me back to last night, walking through the cold air with her all wrapped up in my coat. “No,” I reply bluntly. I crease my eyebrows together in a phoney look of dismay. “It didn’t.”

“Well, that’s a shame,” Ed sighs, handing me back the wand and scroll. I snatch them from his hands and shove them deep into my drawers. “I’ve always wondered what the spell would do. I thought if anyone was going to get it, it would be you, Amity.” Ed pats my head and ruffles my hair, and I shove him off, desperate to get the two of them out.

“Shut up,” I groan. “Now, both of you get out of my room!”

I usher them out the door and shut it behind them, finally at peace. _That was close_. If Ed and Em found out about Luz, our parents would manipulate the truth out of them. It made every inch of my skin crawl just thinking about what would happen. I shake the thought from my mind though, determined to figure out a way to get the spell working so I can get Luz home.

First things first, the library. I needed to do a little research; hopefully there’s something in there about generational scrolls and summoning portals to the human realm. Hopefully. 

I go downstairs and keep an eye out for my siblings and parents. The hall seems mostly empty and quiet, except for the occasional chatter in the distance from the house staff. I sneak some waffles off the table and into my infinity bag for Luz and me to share, as well as a couple of plates and a squirty bottle of maple syrup.

I head outside, the crisp morning air making my nose and ears sting with cold. I walk a couple metres away, making sure I’m out of view of the manor, before making a U-turn and heading back towards Luz’s room through the thick of the trees. _I suppose that’s what it is now: Luz’s room_. I rap on the door gently, and a few moments later, I hear the soft patter of feet on the floor. 

“It’s me,” I whisper, my mouth close to the door. My breath fogs up the frosted glass panel in the centre, and I can see the shape of a figure appear behind it. 

“Amity!” she squeals in delight. The door clicks open, and I come inside. The room is warm, her bed is ruffled, and it smells vaguely like musty perfume. I notice one of the bottles with the cap off on the vanity.

“You were trying the perfume?” I ask, amused. 

“Oh! I mean, I did sleep in these,” Luz replies sheepishly. “They don’t exactly smell the best.”

“I should probably get you some clothes while I’m out,” I reply, beginning to take the waffles from my bag and piling a few onto the plates. I set the syrup down beside it and sit cross-legged. Luz joins me on the floor and reaches for the syrup bottle. 

“Thank you,” she says, pouring an absurd amount of syrup over the stack. I just laugh as she drowns them, syrup spilling over the side of the bottle. “These look really good!” 

“I’ll let Reina know,” I say, pouring a respectable amount of syrup onto my stack and fishing utensils out of my infinity bag, but Luz has already dug in, devouring her waffles before I have the chance to start on mine. 

“Who’s Reina?” Luz asks, hopping up to run her hands under the tap in the bathroom. 

“Oh, she’s the cook,” I say, stabbing a piece of the waffle with my fork. 

“You have a cook!” Luz exclaims, coming back into the main bedroom, her face alight. “That’s so cool! I’d love to have a cook. It’d be great because then Mami wouldn’t have to worry about food and dinner when she comes home from work, and also because I’m terrible at cooking. Like _really_ terrible. This one time-”

Luz’s ramblings are so adorable. Her face lights up as she talks, her eyes shine, and she waves her arms around, but she’s suddenly interrupted by a knock at the door. The two of us freeze in place. Luz drops to the ground, and she army crawls to the bed, slipping underneath it. I go to see who’s at the door, and immediately I can tell it’s Ed and Em, as they’re not very discreet. I can hear them bickering from here.

“What do you guys want?” I call, standing with my back to the door. Luz peeks her head out from the bed and gives me a questioning look. I hold a finger up, hoping she’ll understand. _Do humans know what that means?_

I creak the door open slightly, which turns out to be a mistake because Ed and Em push through and come inside, their eyes narrowed and suspicious. “Y’know, Ed and I were talking,” Em starts to say, walking purposefully around the room. She picks up the bottle Luz had used earlier and sprays some on herself. “You said that nothing happened last night with the spell...but _I_ think you’re lying.” She turns to me, her eyebrows furrowed together, a finger pointed at my chest. She looks at me straight in the eyes, her lip curled. “What are you hiding, Amity?”

“N-nothing,” I stutter, taking a nervous step, and I accidentally back into the plate and my stack of waffles. Ed comes over and notices the empty second plate - Luz’s. He picks it up and hands it to me with raised eyebrows. 

“So who does this belong to then?” 

“No one. Nothing. Stop! Nothing happened last night, I already told you earlier.” I start to get flustered, sweat building up at my collar. The warmth of the room begins to get to me, and I struggle for air. It feels like my breaths are being squeezed out of me, like wringing out a sponge, leaving my throat dry and chest tight.

“Listen, Mittens, you don’t need to hide anything from us,” Em says sweetly, pressing a hand into my shoulder that suggests otherwise. “We promise we won’t tell Mom, right, Ed?” 

Ed shrugs as he takes one of my waffles and eats the whole thing in one go. I look at him in disgust and awe. 

“I- you two are out of your minds. I’ve got nothing to hide.” And then, of course, with the worst timing possible, Luz squeals as she tumbles out from under the bed, frantically brushing off dust and dirt from her clothes. 

Ed and Em jump to their feet and stand there, sharing a shocked glance between them. I clutch the hem of my shirt and bite my lip, drawing blood that leaves a metallic taste on my tongue. The atmosphere of the room has gone still. The four of us are frozen in place, breaths held in our chests to see what happens next. 

“There was a spider…” Luz admits quietly, her head facing the floor. 

“Oh my Titan,” Em exclaims, which causes Luz to look up in confusion. 

“Titan…?” she asks to herself and then looks at me expectantly. 

“That’s a human,” Ed says, completely awestruck. “Amity! Why is there a human in here?”

“So this is what the spell did,” Em concludes. “It summoned a human? That’s certainly an odd generational scroll to pass down. And this seems like an odd human.”

I feel a little anger simmer in me as she calls Luz ‘odd’. “Great, so you’ve figured out my secret. Happy now?” I snap. 

“A human...in our house,” Ed says, still dazed from this revelation. “I mean, I knew you were lying about the spell but to think you were hiding a human here all night!”

“It’s my fault she got summoned here, I have to find a way to send her back,” I say. Em approaches Luz and sticks a hand out, gently nudging her shoulder. 

“You couldn’t send her back?” Ed questions sceptically.

“I tried, but nothing happened...I thought maybe I could try again tonight after some research. Please don’t tell Mom and Dad! They’d lose their mind if they found out I kept a human here.”

“Are humans criminals here or something?” Luz jokes nervously.

“No,” Em replies, poking Luz’s rounded ears. Luz covers her face, and I pull Em back from poking and prodding her any further. “They’re more like outsiders.”

“What does that mean?” Luz asks frantically, her eyes now filled to the brim with worry, the joy and excitement from earlier having fizzled out into the air. 

“It means that we need to get you home as quickly as possible,” I answer before Ed or Em can scare Luz any further. 

“So, what’s the plan, Mittens?” 

Luz stifles a giggle at my nickname, and I turn away, my face burning red.

“Well, first thing’s first,” I say, hoping my face isn’t beet-red anymore. “We need to go shopping.”


	3. Fashion Fiasco

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amity, along with her siblings and Luz, go to town to shop for new clothes for Luz, so she can blend in and have some other things to wear. But Amity, unlike her siblings, is too afraid to let loose and half fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what this is, I wrote this over the course of like a month and I feel like the vibe changed half-way through but hopefully, I've edited it enough to make sense. I genuinely don't know what I'm doing but I like writing and I hope y'all can enjoy whatever the heck this is. :)

The markets on the Boiling Isles are filled with all kinds of creatures and monsters and witches. Some are several feet tall, others are covered in fur, but most of us look vaguely like humans, which means all it takes to hide Luz is a cloak to cover her ears, and we’re good to go. 

“So, Luz, is it? How exactly did you end up being summoned by the spell? Did you just...vanish?” Ed asks as the four of us walk through the square, dodging around people in our way. Luz stares in awe at all the creatures who pass us by, but I gently nudge her arm to tell her to stop staring.

“Oh…” she starts to say but gets distracted by something, staring distantly off into the crowd surrounding a stand. “I was running, actually,” she continues slowly, not paying any attention to Ed and Em. 

“Why?” Ed asks curiously. 

“I was...I was late for something,” she says finally, after mulling over the words in her head. Some part of me feels like perhaps she isn’t telling the truth. Ed and Em raise their eyebrows at Luz, prompting her to continue, so she takes a deep breath and says, “I’m sorry, that isn’t right. In truth... I was running away. I found this old house and ran through the door, and next thing I know, I landed in snow!” Luz chuckles quietly to herself, but there’s something else there, like a soft sadness. I wonder what she was running from. 

“Well, I suppose that makes sense. There are probably parts in the human world where the barrier is weak, and when Mittens here did the spell, it appeared in one of those areas and brought you through it. And now I suppose the question is, how do we do it again?” Em says, resting a hand on her chin like she’s deep in thought.

“Well, before any of that, we need to make sure Luz blends in and get her some new clothes,” I say, and Luz tugs the hood over her ears a little tighter.

“Isn’t this the place?” Ed asks, pointing to a shop down the end of the road. “C’mon! We can have a fashion show.”

“Ed,” I warn, “This isn’t the time for that.”

“Always such a stick-in-the-mud, aren’t you, Mittens? Lighten up a bit,” Ed says, much to my dismay. “I’m sure Luz here would love to see more of the Boiling Isles and our amazing fashion. Wouldn’t you, Luz?”

Luz’s face lights up, and she glances at me with a hesitant smile. I shake my head slightly, not wanting to cause a commotion and attract attention, but the way Luz has this hopeful and childish grin on her face makes me reconsider. 

“Fine, go ahead,” I concede, letting my face fall. 

“Don’t mind her, Luz,” Em chirps. “Let’s go have ourselves a fashion show!”

I watch my siblings and Luz run down the street, bumping into other people, who grump and growl under their breaths as they blunder past. I stand there, feeling slightly foolish, wondering how exactly I got myself into this mess. 

I chew the inside of my cheeks as I walk past shop after shop, glancing absent-mindedly at the window displays.  _ I’m a Blight for Titan’s sake.  _ Fashion shows with humans is hardly what I’d call the picture-perfect model of a Blight. I could get in so much trouble for this.

“Amity, c’mon!” Em calls, sticking her head out the door of the shop. I pick up my pace a little, practically sprinting until I reach the door. A bell jingles overhead as I walk in. 

“How do I look?” Luz asks, looking over at me as she holds out the skirt of the dress she’s wearing. 

“You look like a pom-pom,” I giggle into my hands, and Luz turns back to the mirror, her mouth hanging open. I let go of the fear a little bit. Maybe it is time I let loose. I mean, it’s not every day you get to have a fashion show with a human.

“I do  _ not!” _ she answers, crossing her arms and turning her head away, but I can still hear her chuckle under her breath. “But...I guess this dress would probably attract too much attention.” She looks quizzically at herself in the mirror and touches her fingertip to the frame. She stares down at the colourful patterns on the skirt of the dress. 

“Look, Luz, we just want to find something plain and simple,” I say, walking over to Luz and standing beside her in the mirror. “We don’t want the whole Boiling Isles to know that something’s up - and dressing like a pom-pom won’t help that.”

“Yeah. Plain and simple,” Luz repeats to herself. A strange expression sits on her face like she’s remembering something. And by the glossiness of her eyes and the tears starting to pool at the edges of her vision, it doesn’t seem to be a good memory. 

I reach over a hand and rest it on her shoulder. “Hey,” I whisper softly. “You okay?”

She shakes herself out of whatever trance she was in, and the tears evaporate away. “Yeah, of course!” she shouts buoyantly, “Let’s check out what’s over here!” She ducks away from me, the strange look having vanished in an instant. It seems like her mood changes at the drop of a pin. Slightly startled, I take a moment to absorb what just happened. Eventually, I chalk it up to humans being humans. They are a confusing species, that’s for sure. 

I brush my fingertips along a rack of clothes in the centre of the store. Other witches and creatures enter, perusing through the isles of shirts and cloaks and costumes. Edric and Emira charge boisterously around the place, grabbing handfuls of clothing while the bored shopkeeper looks on, probably not paid enough to care.

“Emira, Edric,” I hiss as they stumble past me, mounds of clothes stretched between their open arms. Luz stands beside them, a happy grin pulled across her face. My heart clenches a little bit - I don’t want to ruin her fun, but this is a serious matter. I know that I’m stuck-up and boring, but at least that keeps me out of trouble and top of the class. That’s all that really matters, right?

“Oh, c’mon, Amity,” Luz says, nudging my shoulder. “We can find you some stuff too!” She pulls the most disastrous looking shirt from the top of Edric’s pile and hands it to me, holding the hanger at my shoulders to see how it would look. 

“I look like a clown,” I mutter, pushing the shirt away. Luz shrugs it off and throws it back onto Edric’s pile. I feel a burning in my chest like I just hurt Luz. I said I would try to loosen up, but it’s hard when I’m looking over my shoulder every few seconds to make sure no one’s noticed Luz. It’s hard to change the way I’ve always been - perfect, no-nonsense Amity. But Luz is everything I’m not, and there’s a part of me that says ‘this is my chance’! I can do things I never would’ve thought of doing, like fashion shows for one. But then the thought of my parents convinces me otherwise. Now is not the time for letting loose. Now is the time to figure things out, like how to send Luz home, if it’s even possible at all. Guilt weighs down on my shoulders, and I turn away. 

“Well, there’s tons of other pretty cool stuff in here,” she says absent-mindedly. Edric and Emira share a look and dump their handful of clothes on the ground, much to the dismay of the manager, who has just begun to notice our hoard of clothes. I nod but keep my face turned away. Luz and Edric and Emira wander off again, searching through other places for more clothing choices. 

I just stand at the rack and push hangers aside, not paying any attention to the clothes. It’s my fault Luz is in this mess, but she somehow doesn’t seem fazed by it. And I can let her have her fun with Edric and Emira, that’s fine, but one of us has to be in charge here. I have to make sure that Luz finds her way home. And maybe that’s what’s best for me too. 

I look behind me. The store manager is scolding Ed and Em and Luz, but the three of them stand there in fits of laughter. Maybe Luz isn’t the best influence on me. Maybe it’s better for the both of us if I don’t get attached. 

It’s probably for the best.


	4. To Err is Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amity's back home after shopping with Ed, Em, and Luz. She has a stressful dinner with her family, and, as she decided on previously, wants to maintain distance between her and Luz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, it's like 3 in the morning and I wrote 2k in like 2 hours. This chapter is um, something else, I guess. Hope y'all can handle this :P

I stand in front of the bathroom mirror, hair pushed back into my usual half-up half-down, the same non-changing style I’ve had ever since my hair was long enough to tie up. Gently I take the hair tie out and brush it, knots tugging at my scalp, but I’m too distracted to care about the pain. 

Luz is in the basement room again. We came back from shopping earlier this afternoon, and I told her I was exhausted from our little excursion, and she didn’t seem to question it. I left Ed and Em to stay with Luz for a while, and I went upstairs and poured over scrolls and textbooks in bed, several of them propped up against the footboard. 

And I found nothing - nothing about a spell to the human realm or how to make it work again. Eventually, I fell asleep draped in my research, and I only just awoke, the light from the sky having seeped away. 

“You’re a Blight,” I say softly, laying down the brush and pulling my hair up again. I meet Ed and Em downstairs for dinner, and I sit quietly, barely touching my food, as Mom and Dad talk about something that doesn’t concern me. I pick up snippets of their conversation, though, and it makes my heart skip a little bit in hope. 

“That Owl Lady...she’s certainly a handful for the Emperor’s Coven, isn’t she dear?” Mom says, her fingers laced together and elbows up on the table, her chin propped up on the backside of her hands.

“No doubt about it. The moment the Emperor finds her, she’ll be executed. Not choosing a coven is the most ridiculous and inexplicable thing a witch can do. I hope she’s discovered soon so we can move on from this nonsense.”

“Who’s the Owl Lady?” I ask suddenly, the words falling from my mouth before I can stop them. Ed and Em poise with their knives and forks mid-air, gaping at me with their mouths hanging open. I swallow down a glass of water and wait for my parents to respond. The dining hall fills with quiet - only the sound of clinking dishes from the kitchen echoes in the large space. 

“The Owl Lady is someone you should not go near,” Mom says, but with a hint of anger in her tone. “She is dangerous and unpredictable. Under no circumstances should you ever try to contact her.”

“Oh, hon, Amity was just asking, weren’t you, sweetheart?” Dad interrupts, smiling and releasing the tension from his shoulders. Ed and Em stare at me, confused. They glance back and forth between Mom and Dad and me. 

“Uh, y-yeah, I was curious, is all,” I answer curtly and shove my mouth with a spoonful of food before I can say anything more. 

“Well, sweetheart, I’m sure you’ve seen the wanted posters around the town. The Owl Lady is just, well, one of those kinds of people. Not that you ever would, but don’t go near her, d’ya hear me?”

“Yeah,” I mumble, and then another question pops into my head. “What’s so bad about not choosing a coven?”

Ed bursts into a coughing fit, and Em drops her fork on the ground but doesn’t make an effort to pick it up. Instead, she just stares at me with her eyes narrowed. 

“You know that isn’t the way of the Boiling Isles, Amity. Don’t ask such insolent questions.”

“But I-”

“Shut up, Mittens,” Ed hisses, the grip around his knife so tight that his knuckles drain blood and turn stark white. An uneasiness settles in me. I’ve never been this bold before - to ask the questions I never dared to ask. The Owl Lady, huh? Is it possible that she knows something about the spell? Would she be able to help me?

But no. Mom and Dad say she’s dangerous, and she probably is. I shake the thought from my head and return to eating. 

“Sorry. About the questions.”

“Don’t worry about it, dear. We’re just looking out for you, is all. The Owl Lady is bad news and a bad witch. I remember her when we were at school too. Don’t you recall, Odalia? She was talented, yes, but certainly a mess of a young woman.”

Mom looks up from her dinner and stares at Dad, her eyes quivering and open wide. I’ve never seen her look like this before. So reminiscent and vulnerable. And then, just as soon as it came, it fades away. “I don’t really remember at all. You know I would never associate with someone like E- I mean, The Owl Lady.”

_ E? _ E what? Is that The Owl Lady’s real name? But what do I care, I guess, since she’s too dangerous to bother asking with this problem. 

The rest of the evening passes by slowly. I ask Reina about a second helping of food and a small cash bribe to keep her from spilling anything to my parents. She happily obliges. Overworked and underpaid, Reina would probably do almost anything for money.

I need to take dinner down to Luz, but I’m not keen on staying too long. I tell my parents I’m going out for a walk as they head upstairs to their rooms. Mom shrugs, and Dad kisses me goodnight before heading up. Ed and Em look at me curiously before heading off to their own rooms too. I breathe in a sigh and fling my head back to look at the murals painted on the ceiling of the dining hall. It shows two witches casting an egregiously dangerous and large spell while the figure of Emperor Belos stands behind them. I never really understood what the purpose of that painting was. 

I tilt my head forward again, all the blood rushing back and making me dizzy. I lurch around for a bit, but eventually, I go to grab the food from where I stashed it in the unused dumbwaiter. I wait until Reina gives me the all-clear before taking the back door outside. The night isn’t that cold. In fact, it’s quite lovely, with a light breeze and clear skies. You can see the full beauty of the Boiling Isles from up on the hill of Blight Manor. 

I walk down to Luz’s room and knock on the door. She opens it before I can knock for a second time, and I stand awkwardly with her dinner between my hands, glancing nervously at her face as she stands in the doorway. I notice she’s wearing one of the two pyjama sets we eventually got around to buying from the store. Ed and Em called it boring, instead suggesting we pick satin cloth and order custom-made sets. I somehow managed to convince them otherwise. Coaxing them into spending money on ice-cream may have been part of the reason they let the idea go. 

“Amity,” Luz says, although it doesn’t contain an air of excitement like it had this morning. Maybe she finally picked up on my distancing. 

“Oh, Luz, I brought you dinner,” I say, shoving the covered plate into her hands. She takes it and places it on the vanity counter. 

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

A beat of silence passes before either of us says anything next. Then Luz sighs and combs back her hair with one hand and walks over to the bed. She pats the space next to her, gesturing for me to sit down. 

“Oh, no, I really should be getting back,” I say, taking a step backwards towards the door. 

“I just want to talk to you, Amity,” Luz answers tiredly, “But it’s not that important, I guess. You can go if you need to.”

And I should’ve gone, really. I should’ve just turned around, wished her goodnight, and left. But for some unfathomable reason, I decide to take a seat beside her. She grins at me and moves towards me, bringing her heels up onto the frame of the bed and squishing a pillow down on her lap. 

“So...what’s up?” I ask, my nerves causing me to fidget with my hands. I grip the edge of the blanket to stop myself as Luz takes her time mulling over what she’s about to say. 

“Amity, I only met you early this morning, technically.”

I nod along, wondering where this is going. A sinking and fluttery feeling swishes around in my stomach, and I gulp back the nervousness hammering in my heart. 

“And don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re really different from how I thought you were.”

“I-is that so?” I ask, slightly offended, but ultimately, it’s the truth. I can’t blame her for that. Luz reaches for my hands, and even though they’re probably clammy and warm, she holds them tight and looks right at my eyes. I can hear the blood rushing through my ears, and my breathing becomes ragged, and heat jumps to my face. I bite down on my lip as Luz wraps her hands around mine. 

“You’re maybe the first friend I’ve had in a while, Amity, and I’m not just saying that. But when I first met you, I thought you were carefree and happy and silly. Like me. But...but I think maybe that’s only when the others aren’t around?” she asks gently, like she’s balancing on a tightrope, swaying back and forth up in the air, careful not to fall and accidentally push - whatever this is - too far. 

“I- I don’t really know what to say to that.”

“I also feel like after that whole fashion show thing, you were trying to avoid me,” Luz continues unabashedly. “I was just wondering...did I do something wrong?” She looks at me with such earnestness in her eyes that it makes me stop breathing for a moment. I pull my hands away from Luz, jump to my feet, and wipe my palms down on the sides of my shorts. Luz looks taken aback as I stand there, having revolted from her touch. 

“No! Of course not. It’s not that, Luz, really…” I try to convince her. “It’s not really you or anything, I just- I want to help you get home, is all. And I think we should be focusing on that.”

“Like I said, no one’s waiting for me at home,” Luz replies, a little hurt. She tucks her hands underneath the pillow on her lap and leans forward, resting her head down and closing her eyes. “Just Mama, maybe, but she was sending me away anyway. She probably thinks I’m at some junky summer camp right now, with other weird and oddball kids.”

“Junky summer camp?”

“Nevermind, that’s not the point. The point is, I feel like something’s off about you, Amity. I dunno what it is. You’re just being so…”

“Uptight? Stuck-in-the-mud? Serious?” I offer, getting a little riled up. Luz’s eyes open wide as the heat and the pain from all those years of being called such things pour out of me and at her. I know, I know, I know I shouldn’t be letting out all this pain on Luz, but she’s here right now, and all these pent up feelings are a tsunami slamming down a dam with no remorse. 

“No-”

“Is that what you think I am, Luz!?” I yell. “No, seriously, be honest, if that’s what you mean then just say it. I’d rather you not lie to me.”

“No, Amity, I really didn’t mean it like that. I’m just-”

“What? What is it, Luz? You’re just sick of me trying to help you get home, is that it? You think Ed and Em can help you with this? They don’t take anything seriously! I spend so much time being top at everything, being the best possible witch, just to impress my parents. Just so I can say that I’m worthy of being called a Blight! But you- you human, you show up out of nowhere because of that  _ stupid _ spell, and now I have to figure it out all on my own? And you don’t even care! Why should I bother at all then?”

“Hey-” Luz says, getting to her feet. The pillow lands with a gentle  _ whump _ on the wood floors. Luz reaches out a hand and clasps my wrist, but I shake her off. 

“No, Luz, I think it’s best if I leave you alone. I’ll let Ed and Em keep you company while I figure out how to get rid of you,” I say, the anger starting to recede, but the heat of it still rages like a stampede of beasts. “It’s better if I keep my distance. You enjoy your time in the Boiling Isles, or whatever. Ed and Em can do whatever they want as far as I’m concerned. Just- just stay out of my way, alright, and I’ll stay out of yours. Goodnight.”

I storm out of there, my head throbbing with emotion and tears stinging in my eyes. Even though it was a pleasant night when I had arrived, now the cold wind has settled in, and it’s starting to make my face sting. The edges of my nose feel like they’re burning. Salty tears sting my cheeks as they pour relentlessly down my face. I wipe them away with the back of my hand, but they keep on falling.  _ Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why are you even crying? You told her what you needed to. Now just get rid of her and forget about this whole stupid thing.  _

_ She’s not worth it.  _

_ Forget about Luz. _

_ She’s only a distraction. _

_ You’re a Blight. You don’t need her. _

But then why do I feel like this? Why do I feel regret and shame and ache? Why do I feel like I really do need her, like she actually means something to me? She’s just a human.  _ Just a human. _

But maybe...maybe I’m right. I don’t need her.

I  _ want _ her. 


End file.
